A middle school teacher in Kansas has been asked to resign and is unlikely to ever return to the classroom in the school district where he teaches after showing his students a gay anti-bullying film.
Tom Leahy, a social studies teacher at Conway Springs Middle School in Conway Springs, Kansas, says he showed the film Love Is All You Need?to three of his eighth-grade history classes after an anti-gay incident in the classroom. As part of a class project, Leahy had instructed his students to create fictional colonies, each with its own Bill of Rights. But one of the groups said that gay people were not allowed in their colony, upsetting some other groups in the classroom.
“I was expecting fairly positive kinds of colonies: ‘Do things we think are right, and be nice,'” Leahy told The Wichita Eagle. But it just kind of got twisted around, and it became a place where certain people weren’t allowed. Then the issue of gay vs. straight came up, and a lot of them were not allowing gays into their colony and stuff like that. … There were some hard feelings. Kids were getting upset.”
As a result of the classroom controversy, Leahy decided to show Love Is All You Need?, a 2013 short film about a young straight girl who is bullied to the point of suicide in a world where the majority of people are gay or lesbian. But several parents complained after they heard of the film’s content, including a scene where the main character commits suicide. Other parents felt the movie was an attack on religion’s treatment of homosexuality, particularly the Catholic Church.
“I wanted kids to see that and see that different perspective and how would they feel if they were this young girl and bullied in her belief in liking boys which is totally opposite of the world we see,” Leahy told local CBS affiliate KWCH. “I think it made them think. During, after the video, I had a few questions and I talked about them. They said some of it wasn’t fair and some of it, you know we’d never do that to somebody and I said yeah, that’s true but that’s what this movie is trying to point out.”
Unfortunately, Leahy did not get permission from either parents or school administrators to show the video, which resulted from his removal from the classroom. Typically, with controversial films, videos or other presentations, teachers are expected to offer parents a chance to “opt out” — temporarily remove their children from class so that they don’t see the controversial material in question.
Leahy, who had been planning to retire next year, has been placed on leave and said he doesn’t see himself returning to teaching. He said he reached a mutual decision with the district and the superintendent that he would not be teaching in Conway Springs. However, he has not turned in a resignation — and he doesn’t regret his decision to show the movie.
“I believe in what I showed,” Leahy told KWCH. “And I believe that not just Conway Springs but in so many little towns we’re afraid of our own shadow. And I think if we learn more about these shadows we might be surprised and say you know what, these people are okay. They’re not out to hurt us or to change us or make us be a different person.”
A Massachusetts-based LGBTQ advocacy group is warning of a reported surge of anti-LGBTQ harassment in local high school sports, particularly hockey teams.
In a March 3 open letter to Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell, the group, Lawyers for Civil Rights Boston (LCR), warned that identity-based bullying of LGBTQ youth remains a problem on some high school sports teams. The letter says the behavior is exacerbated by "team hierarchies, locker room culture, and competitive dynamics."
LCR said reports of bullying and harassment targeting youth who are gay or perceived to be gay have spiked within school hockey programs, which the group believes may be connected to the popularity of Heated Rivalry, an HBO series about a romance between two closeted gay athletes.
The Kansas Division of Vehicles has sent letters to transgender residents ordering them to surrender their driver's licenses under a newly enacted anti-LGBTQ law.
The letters state that transgender individuals' current licenses -- those with gender markers matching their gender identity rather than their sex assigned at birth -- are considered invalid as of Thursday, February 26. Recipients are instructed to surrender their licenses to obtain new credentials reflecting their sex at birth.
First reported by transgender journalist Erin Reed on her Substack, Erin in the Morning, the letter cites a recently enacted law -- vetoed by Gov. Laura Kelly and later overridden by the legislature -- requiring that all driver's licenses and state identification cards reflect the holder's "sex at birth."
It's the end of the world as we know it in the rousing sci-fi adventure Project Hail Mary, but gutsy middle school science teacher Ryland Grace feels fine. Portrayed by Ryan Gosling with a perpetual smile in his cheeks and a wisecrack ever at the ready, Grace faces danger armed with his doctorate in Molecular Biology and an unflappable sense of humor.
Both attributes factor into Grace being singled out as "The One Scientist on the Planet Who Can Save Us," entrusted by an international coalition of governments with solving a molecular-level threat to life on Earth.
Not that he, nor the film, based on the novel by Andy Weir (The Martian), stay grounded on terra firma. His mission largely entails hurtling through deep space, rendered with stunning depth and vastness by co-directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, via excellent cinematography by Greig Fraiser and production design by MCU stalwart Charles Wood.
These are challenging times for news organizations. And yet it’s crucial we stay active and provide vital resources and information to both our local readers and the world. So won’t you please take a moment and consider supporting Metro Weekly with a membership? For as little as $5 a month, you can help ensure Metro Weekly magazine and MetroWeekly.com remain free, viable resources as we provide the best, most diverse, culturally-resonant LGBTQ coverage in both the D.C. region and around the world. Memberships come with exclusive perks and discounts, your own personal digital delivery of each week’s magazine (and an archive), access to our Member's Lounge when it launches this fall, and exclusive members-only items like Metro Weekly Membership Mugs and Tote Bags! Check out all our membership levels here and please join us today!
You must be logged in to post a comment.